This is a place where I can post family updates and ramble about things as I try to find my way since the recent death of my daughter. Life has completely changed for my sons, my husband and myself. Our faith has been a great source of comfort and we'll continue to rely on it as we press forward.

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The Story of Christmas & Silly Socks

Monday, September 29, 2008

You'll never guess why! Go ahead.... guess! No, it wasn't arrhythmias, lung bleeds, asthma, stomach problems or any of her other million reasons she goes to the ER... no.... this one was special it was because...

She

got

bucked

off

a

HORSE!

My mom's comment... "what was she doing on a horse in the first place?" My answer was... "uh... trying to ride it!" doh!

Remember when I posted about our friends riding their horses to our house last year and Jessica got to ride Penny the horse and was sooooo excited about it? (Don't remember? I found the post HERE.) Well, we made arrangements with the Womack's (the family who own Penny) and we went to the stables. Jessica first rode on Copper, the Womack's other horse, and Jess did GREAT! She rode him around the arena a couple of times before she got off and then wanted to ride Penny. As we all were trying to hoist her up onto Penny, she got spooked and reared up and started to dart away. I almost lost my hold on Jess (she had already been jerked out of Karl's hold) and she started to come down. I grabbed her with all my might and pulled her onto myself and away from the horse. As all this was happening I saw Jessica's head go down and Penny's hoof go up. I was so scared that Jess got kicked in the face but thank goodness she didn't! She did, however, get kicked in the leg. We were both in a heap on the ground as everyone came rushing to our aid. I had to calm myself down because I was still looking to make sure she was breathing and wasn't bleeding! We ended up spending several hours in the ER waiting for x-ray reports and blood work but finally everything came back fine! Jess has a HUGE swollen hoof-print on her leg. Just an inch to the left and she surely would have broken her leg.

What a champ... Jessica still says that even though Penny bucked her off, she still loves her because it wasn't her fault. Jess still wants to try to ride Penny another time. The Womacks were so great... they helped us as much as they could and they kept apologizing. It's not their fault! We love and appreciate them so much. We are so blessed to have wonderful friends like that.

It's extremely late but I have some great photos of our adventure and even a couple of video clips of Jess riding Copper. She is soooooooo amazing! She is a true cowgirl because she has officially been initiated into the Cowgirl club! You have to be bucked off at least once to join that club. LOL

Saturday, September 27, 2008

First I want to thank everyone for all the birthday wishes. It really made my day! I had a lovely birthday. The night before my birthday a friend of mine and I went to a scrapbooking crop at our local scrapbooking store. We get to go to free crops during the month of our birthdays and our birthdays are 3 days apart. :D So we went and had our fun. The next day I had many emails and messages here on my blog wishing me a happy birthday! It was so fun! My sister's birthday is the day before mine and while I was out scrapbooking my sister and mom tried to call me. I told my sister several years ago that it's not fair that every year I call her on her birthday and then she doesn't need to call me the next day for mine. So this year she and my mom decided to call me on her birthday and surprise me! How fun is that? Since I wasn't home they talked to Jessica. She enjoyed talking to them. My mom has been helping my sis for about a month since Marcus's cancer came back and she will be going home next week. She will probably spend a day or two here in town so we'll probably get to spend some time together then.

Karl took me out to dinner on my birthday and that was really nice. The day after my birthday I got to go to church. It was so good to go again! It's been awhile since I've been able to go either because I didn't have anyone to take care of Jessica or I wasn't feeling well myself. I also got some phone calls and a couple of cards in the mail wishing me a Happy Birthday. Thanks everyone for making my birthday so great!

Here is a great story for you. If this doesn't make your day, nothing will.

There is a little boy named Derek Andrews who lives in Clarence NY...right outside Buffalo.He is presently 7 years old and will turn 8 in October. Derek has a muscle disorder and doctors told his parents that Derek would never be able to run or play sports.Apparently, however, no one ever told Derek.He plays hockey at the Amherst Pepsi Center , baseball and soccer in Clarence, and participates in gymnastics. Maybe the word 'plays' is a bit misleading.. Derek was on the baseball league all-star team, the ice hockey select team and was the leading scorer on his soccer team! All despite that condition that continues to weaken the muscles in his body.To make the story even more heartwarming, after winning a local bank's essay contest (who in the world writes essays at 7 ????), Derek used his prize money to put on a magic show at Children's Hospital, help organize a book drive for a Buffalo school and buy supplies for elephants at The Buffalo Zoo.Derek's uncle says that Derek has been nominated for 'Sports Kid of the Year' by Sports Illustrated for Kids and is now a top 10 finalist. I can't think of any more deserving kid than this boy. To help Derek achieve that honor, all you have to do is vote for him at the following web site Sports Illustrated Kids

It literally takes 15 seconds to do. You are allowed to vote as often as you wish.

I just started a new blog all about my arts and crafts. I love to paint, scrapbook, make cards using stamps and other mediums among many other fun things. I just uploaded my first set of photos of things I've painted way back when.... over 10 years ago. When I say I painted things I meant I've painted on furniture, dolls, birdhouses, etc. In the next few days I hope to upload photos of baskets I was hired to paint. I got a bit burnt out on painting since my job took over my time after a couple of years. Then Jessica started to get sicker and I discovered scrapbooking... so the painting took a backseat and I delved into preserving our memories. I've made two scrapbooks of Jessica so far and am working on one for each of my sons.

My mom talked me into becoming a Creative Memories consultant about 6 years ago (so we could both enjoy the CMC discount - hehe) and I've really enjoy it. It gets me out of the house and I've been able to meet so many great friends. I still do workshops every month and on occasion I host "Get Togethers". My CM unit hosts some pretty awesome specialty events a few times a year. We have our "Croptoberfest" every October, National Scrapbook Day every Spring and the biggest and best of all is our yearly Retreat! A whole weekend of scrapbooking, winning prizes and having fun with friends. It is the only time all year that I get to go away (usually in town!) and not have the responsibility of my medically fragile child 24/7. I have pictures that I plan on posting later on of some of these awesome events.

I got into stamping a couple of years ago and am involved with a group of ladies where we exchange cards that we've made every month. This group is hosted by a "Stampin' Up" demonstrator and she shows us new techniques and ideas at these meetings. We exchange cards and we also order from the SU catalog. We each take turns being the Host so we can earn FREE stamps! ahhh... freeeeeeeeeeeeee crafting supplies! How could I say NO?

Crafting is my therapy. Seriously. If I go awhile without doing anything creative I get very depressed. Crafting and painting is good for the soul! In fact, I include ARTS and crafts because I am an artist! I've sold more items that I've painted than I've kept - and I've kept a LOT! You should see my house! So I think that I could be considered an artist. I like that term.

So hop on over to my FancyCrafty{Me}blog and check it out! Yes, I'm bragging here! And why not? I'm so thankful for the talents that God has blessed me with. Why not share it?

Monday, September 08, 2008

The good news is that Jessica is doing a little bit better. She has been able to eat more and her pain has been a bit more manageable. I've had to give her more morphine but it's taking the edge off her pain. The problem with giving her too much morphine is that it could potentially cause her bowels to slow down even more. We sure don't want that! I have to be very careful not to over medicate her but try to keep the pain down so she can enjoy her life. I am getting frustrated because I have not heard back from the GI doctor. I left a message for her peds cardiologist on Friday but just missed him as he left for the weekend. I am expecting him to call me today. I've been up all night and am getting ready to go to sleep. Yes, it's almost 9:00AM! Austin is coughing like crazy and he couldn't sleep much last night. We don't have a home health aid today so I really hope I get some sleep today.

The bad news is that my nephew, Marcus, is doing worse. He had his 2nd dose of the new chemo last Wednesday and things went sour right off. Marcus started with diarrhea and vomiting right away. The poor guy was confused and sooooooo sick! They were able to give him meds to help stabilize him and then he slept. He was admitted to the hospital and has been there ever since. He isn't able to get his sodium levels up and he is at great risk for seizures. His eyesight is also getting worse and is wearing an eye patch. My sister, Karen, has been posting updates on Marcus's carepage. Karen's blog is: "I Made it Through Another Day"